The Cougars haven’t done well against WCC icons who wear capes, deflect bullets off their chests, leap tall buildings in single bounds, make ridiculous game-winning impossible shots and play perfect games.

That’s Olynyk. He might as well come from DC Comics as far as the Cougars are concerned. A guy with a name that looks like letters in a Scrabble tray, Olynyk is somebody Marvel could easily make into a character. In BYU’s first meeting with Olynyk in Spokane, Wash., the junior scored 26 points by going 9-for-9 from the field and 8-for-8 from the line. He couldn’t do that in practice with nobody guarding him. That night, nobody was.

Perhaps that will be incentive for BYU senior Brandon Davies on Senior Night when the No. 2 Zags invade town. Gonzaga is the highest ranked team to ever visit this arena and Olynyk is a major reason.

I asked BYU assistant coach Mark Pope, a former NBA veteran with the Pacers and Bucks and member of one of Kentucky’s national championship teams, what makes Olynyk so good.

“One comment is that he doesn’t have to play to be good,” Pope said.

Explain.

“It is like how I felt playing in high school,” Pope said. “That you don’t really have to do all the little tricks of the game to create space for yourself or get open or get in position for rebounds because you are just way better than the other guys. He’s just better than everybody else.”

Olynyk is projected to be a first-round pick in this year’s NBA Draft. He’s a former member of the Canadian National team. He played most of his high school career as a point guard before he grew seven inches his junior year. He uses that agility and mindset to play big with a guard’s mentality.

Before BYU’s last game with Gonzaga, Pope got in a conversation with a friend, Matt Santangelo, a star guard for the Zags in 2000 and current color commentator for Gonzaga radio broadcasts. Pope asked Santangelo if Olynyk was as good as he appeared to be.

“Mark, you have not seen 50 percent of his game because he doesn’t have to go to it. Everything is just so easy for him at this level.”

Pope believes there’s a lot of truth to that. “I’ve heard he is the best shooter on his team from range. Occasionally you’ll see him handle the ball up the court and cross it between his legs and hit a three. I think I saw it against Santa Clara. You just shake your head. That is not a kid who is testing his range, that’s a kid who is totally comfortable."

Olynyk is one of the big pieces in why Gonzaga is No. 2 and headed for a top seed in the NCAA Tournament come March. A team with outstanding coaching, great role players, deadly shooters and a big presence like Olynyk, well — you get the idea how tough tonight’s game is for this Cougar team.

Pope knows enough about big men to appreciate the nuances in Olynyk’s game.

“One of the things about him is he’s not a guy who traditionally has to get two hands to the rim,” said Pope. “When we’re recruiting, those kind of guys scare me because when (they're) going against higher competition in college, (they aren't) going to be able to get two hands to the rim all the time.

“This dude (Olynyk) gets two hands to the rim and he doesn’t really have to have any post moves. He's just quick and clever enough and slippery enough and creative enough that he finds ways to get two hands to the rim. He’s on a different level.”

When I picture soft fans, I picture suspenders-boy
shooting his mouth off after the BYU-Utah game and then cowering like a
frightened little girl as soon as Bronco turns to face him - the everlasting
face of the MUSS.More..

1:28 p.m. Feb. 28, 2013

Top comment

Mildred in Fillmore

Salt Lake City, UT

He plays way too physical and is allowed to brutalize our players without fouls
being called.

Dick Harmon is a columnist for the Deseret News with a focus on college athletics. He previously worked as executive sports editor, sports columnist, city editor and police reporter for the Provo Daily Herald for 26 more ..